it's a long way forward, so trust in me
by auroracode
Summary: "Hey there! You're Nakahara-san right?" He greeted with a smile, totally ignoring the suspicious glare that settled on him, he'd been told many times before that he lacked a sense of self-preservation, and anyone listening to the next words out of his mouth probably would have agreed with that sentiment. "So are the rumors that you're Ozaki-san's illegitimate son true?"


The first time Nishiki Takahashi saw Chuuya Nakahara, it was a mere passing glance in a hallway and he had no idea who he was. The boy had been trailing along after Kouyou Ozaki, the hooded green jacket and jeans he was wearing looking far too casual next to her flowing kimono.

Even though their paths had only crossed for a few seconds it had been an odd enough occurrence that it stuck in his mind; the kid had seemed young, maybe thirteen or fourteen if he had to hazard a guess, and while there technically wasn't an age requirement to join the Mafia, you didn't usually see kids that young unless they'd been specifically recruited.

Most likely the kid had some kind of ability, that would explain the early recruitment, heck maybe he was a relative of Ozaki, their hair did look similar in color and it would explain why he was following her. Whatever the case was, he figured he'd just have to wait and see, after three years in the Mafia he wasn't as low on the totem pole as he used to be, but he certainly wasn't high enough ranked to be poking around just to satisfy his curiosity.

* * *

The second time Nishiki saw Chuuya, almost a week had passed and the boy was no longer dressed in his casual outfit from before; it had been replaced with a nicely fitted white shirt and dress pants, a fancy hat he vaguely recalled the boy to have been carrying before, and a black choker accessorizing the outfit. On most teens, the combination might have looked somewhat silly, but he pulled it off and Nishiki found himself wondering whether it had been the kid or Ozaki who'd picked it out.

By this point, Nishiki was well aware of just who the kid was, for an underground criminal organization the Port Mafia members could get pretty gossipy, so it hadn't taken long to hear about how the boss's prodigy had successfully managed to recruit the so-called King of the Sheep. Opinions seemed to vary on whether this was a good thing or not, he'd overheard several people gloating about it as if they were the ones who recruited him but he also knew there was a faction of people who were not at all happy about his presence.

It wasn't really a secret that prior to his recruitment Nakahara had been doing a good job of wrecking whoever had been sent after The Sheep, there were plenty of Mafia members who had been injured or killed by him, and the friends they left behind wanted revenge. Of course, there wasn't anything any of those people could do, not when the kid was so highly favored by the boss, and while he could understand their frustration, he found himself glad for that.

He might not have interacted with the kid yet, might have only ever seen him twice, but Nishiki was the oldest of six kids and pretty good at reading people if he did say so himself, and when he looked at Nakahara he didn't see the monster that whispers in the hallways said he was. Instead, he saw a teen, probably close to the age of his own little brother, who seemed far too lonely for his age.

It was then, as Nishiki watched Nakahara get up from where he'd been sitting to follow after a beckoning Ozaki, that he made a silent promise to himself to try and befriend the boy.

* * *

The third time Nishiki sees Chuuya is the first time he actually speaks to him; the boy is leaned up against the wall next to one of the Executive's offices, though Nishiki's mind blanks when he tries to recall which one it belongs to, and judging by the quiet murmurs that can be heard from inside the room he's either waiting for one of the people in there or waiting his turn to enter.

Either way it's the first time he's come across Nakahara alone, which means it's the perfect opportunity to start a conversation; of course technically he's supposed to be delivering some paperwork to the boss but given that it's not actually his paperwork, but rather a stack that had been foisted on him by a slightly higher-ranked member who in turn had had it pushed on him by an even higher-ranked member who had been told to deliver it by one Dazai Osamu, he honestly didn't feel too bad about stalling for a bit.

"Hey there! You're Nakahara-san right?" He greeted with a smile, totally ignoring the suspicious glare that settled on him, he'd been told many times before that he lacked a sense of self-preservation, and anyone listening to the next words out of his mouth probably would have agreed with that sentiment. "So are the rumors that you're Ozaki-san's illegitimate son true?"

There weren't actually any rumors of the sort going around, but Nishiki had needed a conversation starter and it was the first thing that had come to his mind. It seemed to have worked as Nakahara's jaw dropped at the question and he stared incredulously at Nishiki for a moment before he finally managed to find his voice,

"I..what? She's only four years older than me! How?" He sputtered and Nishiki found it impossible to hold in his laughter,

"Sorry," He choked out between giggles, "I couldn't resist." The kid's face had been hilarious to watch and while it hadn't been his intent, it had finally earned him an answer as too just how old he was; Ozaki was nineteen which meant the kid had to be fifteen, it was still pretty young, but older then he had expected given the boy's height. Almost as if he could hear his thoughts, Nakahara's eyes narrowed slightly and Nishiki quickly decided that it would probably be better not to bring up the boy's height, somehow he got the feeling it would be dangerous.

"I'm Nashiki Takahashi." He stated, offering his hand for the kid to shake; for a moment Nakahara just stared at it before finally gingerly taking it,

"Chuuya." Was all he said, but a wide grin still split Nashiki's face, he'd made progress.

"It's nice to meet you Chuuya-san," He began, but before he could do anything to try and continue the conversation, the door to the office swung open and Ozaki stepped out. Seeing him there with Chuuya she blinked, before apparently deciding he wasn't worth her attention and giving Chuuya a 'come follow' gesture with her hand.

"See you around!" Nishiki called after Chuuya, before heading in the opposite direction as them, he still had reports to deliver. He was halfway down the hall when he heard Ozaki question Chuuya about what he had wanted and quickly spend up his pace, barely making it to the stairs before he heard her almost yell of,

"He wanted to know what?!"

* * *

The next time Nishiki sees Chuuya he's hovering outside of the mess hall, looking unsure of himself, there's no sign of Ozaki nearby which doesn't surprise him too much, it was rather hard to picture her coming down to eat in the cafeteria after all.

Despite not having a mind-reading ability, or any ability at all for that matter, it wasn't hard for Nishiki to figure out that Ozaki's absence was the reason for Chuuya's unease. Or rather it was the problem her absence caused that was the reason. There was a sense of hostility in the air, thick enough that it almost seemed like one could reach out and grab hold of it if they really wanted to, and it all seemed to settle on Chuuya.

Nishiki couldn't help but to let out an annoyed sigh at the scene, he understood that a few weeks was not enough time to reasonably ask people to fully let go of grudges, but surely they could at least tone it down a little bit.

Chuuya was looking more uncomfortable by the second and Nishiki couldn't blame him, he was sure that if a fight were to break out Chuuya could easily take all of them, but that would have consequences. The kid was still new to the Mafia and even though he might be favored by the boss, he'd still have to face punishment for beating up his coworkers.

It would be a great time for Ozaki to show up, the woman was a force of nature and anyone who stood in her way would quickly find themselves blown away, alas there was no sign of her which meant diffusing things fell to someone else. And it seemed that someone else was going to have to be him.

Luckily Nishiki didn't really mind helping out a friend in need, even if the said friend wasn't aware they were friends yet.

"Chuuya-san!" Nishiki's cheerful voice seemed to create a crack in the atmosphere of the room as he strolled towards the boy, his demeanor coming across as more like a child greeting a friend than a twenty-one-year-old Mafioso trying to prevent a fight. That was the intention though, Nishiki had been accused many times before of basically being an overgrown puppy, and he'd learned to weaponize that, using his cheerfulness to cut through awkward situations just like he'd use a knife to cut through someone's flesh.

He watched as Chuuya blinked in surprise at his sudden appearance before relaxing ever so slightly; even though they'd only interacted once, apparently the appearance of a familiar face was still reassuring.

"Sorry for making you wait," He apologized, watching as confusion shined in the boy's eyes for a moment before clearing as he seemed to catch on to Nishiki's ploy. The kid was quick.

"It's fine, I wasn't waiting for long," Chuuya replied, much to his relief, he hadn't been sure if the boy would play along or not and didn't have a backup plan for if he'd called his bluff.

"Well let's go, I want to check out the new takoyaki place that opened. It'll be my treat." Ignoring the stares from people around them, Nishiki began walking away, hoping Chuuya would choose to follow. The kid did and for a while, the two of them walked in silence as they made their way out of the Mafia headquarters and into the city streets, finally, though, the kid spoke.

"You're awfully friendly, Takahashi-san." He stated, a trace of suspicion in his voice, "You'd better not be planning anything funny I will stab you."

Nishiki scrunched up his nose in disgust,

"Okay, first of all, call me Nishiki, Takahashi-san makes me feel old. Second," He paused, turning to face Chuuya, a serious look in his eyes, "I understand why you're suspicious, I'm sure you've realized that there are people who aren't too happy you've joined, but I promise I'm not trying to mess with you or anything, I want to be your friend." Chuuya just stared at him,

"Why?" He questioned, and there was such a mixture of confusion and suspicion laced in his voice that it took almost all of Nishiki's willpower to resist scooping him into a hug

"Why? Well for one you're interesting, I mean you're just a teen and yet from what I've heard you're super strong. So there's that, but also…" For a moment he hesitated, well aware that his next words might cause offense. "You seemed lonely."

He half expected the kid to get mad or tell him to keep his pity, but instead, he just stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before huffing and starting to walk again,

"I'll give a chance Nishiki," And it was the sound of his first name, bare of any honorifics just like he'd requested that gave hope, that maybe just maybe, this was going to work out, "But if you do anything…"

"I know, I know. You'll stab me." Nishiki assured him, a grin forming on his face as he trailed after the boy. "Hey, if you do stab me, do I get to keep the knife?"

"No!"

"Come on, haven't you heard of finders keepers?"

* * *

Nishki had known Chuuya for a little over a month and felt like he could tentatively call the two of them friends when he walked into one of the gyms to find the boy angrily kicking a punching bag. Besides him, the room was vacant, which was weird for the time of day, but anyone with a healthy amount of common sense had probably steered clear of the place upon seeing Chuuya'smood.

Nishiki was not one of those people, however, and so he strolled right in,

"So, what did the punching bag do to you?" He questioned, startling his friend, who had apparently been too fixated on getting his anger out to notice his approach.

"The boss partnered me up with that idiot Dazai." Chuuya spat out without preamble, his voice filled with such anger that it made Nishiki blink in surprise. Chuuya had a temper, he'd figured that out pretty quickly, but he'd never heard him speak about anyone in a tone so full of anger before. Though considering he was talking about Dazai, Nishiki could kind of understand the feeling.

As a member of the Port Mafia's guerrilla attack force, Dazai was technically Nishiki's boss, though he didn't report to him directly. While he could honestly admit that the teen was a brilliant strategist, that was about the only nice thing he could think to say if someone had asked him for a description of the boy. There was a dark cruelty in him, which admittedly wasn't all that rare a thing for a member of the Mafia, but there was something about Dazai that was particularly off.

"For a mission?" He questioned, hoping that was the case. It wasn't entirely unheard of for members who worked well together to be permanently teamed up, but usually, they'd had the chance to work together several times before it happened.

"I don't know," Chuuya growled, slamming his foot into the punching bag again, "Mori-San made it sound like a permanent thing, he said we worked well as a team."

That brought a frown to Nishiki's face, Chuuya's words made it sound like he'd worked with Dazai before, but when, thus far the few missions Chuuya had been sent on had been with only Kouyou. If he recalled right though, Dazai had been the one to recruit Chuuya so maybe they'd had to work together prior to him joining the Mafia? Nishiki couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a puzzle without all the pieces there, he needed to find the ones explaining what history Chuuya had with Dazai and why it had left such a dislike of the other boy.

"Are you going to be okay? I mean I know the guy is a jerk, but you really seem to hate him." The unspoken question of 'what did he do to you? hung in the air unsaid, but judging by the way Chuuya twitched, he'd heard it. Several moments passed without a word spoken and Nishiki was preparing to find some way to switch subjects when the boy finally seemed to find his voice

"I...you know I was part of a gang right?" Chuya questioned, not bothering to wait for an answer before he continued, "I was basically their protection and leader, I mean it wasn't official or anything but I was the one who was taking care of most things." Chuuya's voice had begun to quicken as he spoke like he was trying to rush out the words to get it over with. "Mori-San though, he wanted me to join the Mafia. I really wasn't interested, I had no plans to leave the Sheep, but Dazai… he manipulated them, made them think I was going to join."

Nishiki didn't know if Chuuya was even aware of it, but his hand had crept to his side, clutching at it as if trying to put pressure on a nonexistent wound.

"They turned on me," Chuuya continued, his voice having lost all sense of emotion as he tried to distance himself from the words "I had nothing and nobody before I joined The Sheep, they were my friends, the closest thing I had to family but all it took was a small hint of doubt and they were ready and willing to kill me. Then Dazai showed up, he'd planned it all and in the end, I had nowhere else to go."

Chuuya finally turned away from the punching bag, and Nishiki could see the start of tears forming in his eyes.

"That bastard made me lose everything," He choked out, and Nishiki didn't even hesitate before stepping forward to wrap his arms around the boy, pulling him into a hug just like he would've his own brother. For a moment Chuuya stiffened, but then he relaxed, his body going limp as he allowed himself to sob into the man's chest.

"I'm sorry," Nishiki whispered, the words sounded hollow on his lips even though he meant them; it was frustrating, he'd gone to college to be a therapist for close to two semesters before dropping out and joining the mafia, but even with the classes he'd taken he knew nothing he could say to help fix things.

"We can't change the past, what's happened has already happened and there's no going back," He finally said, trying to instill a calm he didn't feel into the words, "But the future's still in front of us, and even if it doesn't seem ideal from where we're standing, we've got to do our best to make it so someday it is. That's all we can do." Against his shirt, he heard Chuuya give a hiccuping laugh,

"What are you? Some kind of philosopher?" He asked, but something in the words seemed to settle him and his breathing began to slow,

The two of them stood there like that for a few minutes until Chuuya calmed down and pulled away, an embarrassed look on his face at having broken down like that.

"You know," Nishiki said after a moment, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "There is one good about this, you're technically one of my bosses now, so you'll get to boss me around!" He paused an expression of mock consideration appearing on his face, "Not that you don't already, you're a bossy little thing."

The glare in Chuuya's eyes at being referred to as little was softened by the twitch of a smile on his lips.

* * *

Nishiki's known Chuuya for exactly two months and fourteen days the first time the two of them end up on a mission together, it also happened to be the first mission lead by Chuuya alone, something which he knew was stressing the boy out. It didn't particularly worry Nishiki though, he could already see the signs of a good leader in him, despite having only been affiliated with Port Mafia's Guerrilla attack force for about a month and a half, he'd already taken the time to memorize everyone's name and could easily start up a conversation with them on a topic he knew they were interested in.

It was the kind of thing that inspired true loyalty in people, the kind that was born out of respect not fear. Every action Chuuya took made it clear that he valued the lives of every person he worked with, that he didn't just see them as disposable fodder but as people with their own lives and goals.

The simple consideration with which he treated people had done wonders for Chuuya's reputation, when people talked about him now they didn't talk about what he'd done before joining the Mafia, but rather what a pleasure it was to work with him. It brought a spring to Nishiki's step everything he heard the words of praise, his little brother was so amazing! Of course, that thought made him freeze in his tracks, just when had he stopped considering Chuuya just a friend and began thinking of him as a brother?

If he had to hazard a guess he would say it had probably been that day in the training room when Chuuya had broken down about Dazai, he hadn't even put thought into comforting Chuuya like he would his own siblings at the time, he'd just moved and that was that. He didn't regret it though, while there were a lot of things in his life Nishiki had been unsatisfied by, being a big brother wasn't one of them.

Of course, as a big brother, he was naturally good at judging when his siblings would be good at something, so it was no surprise when Chuuya's mission went off without a hitch, just like he'd expected. They'd gotten in easily, taking the enemy by surprise and Nishiki had to put visible effort into paying attention to his own fight instead of watching Chuya decimate his opponents. There was a surprising grace in the way he fought, that one wouldn't readily expect from someone whose style largely consisted of kicking people in the face and through walls.

In some ways, watching him fight was almost like watching a dance, Chuuya effortlessly glided through his movements, never pausing as he switched opponents. An enemy would fall and he would be on to the next one before they had time to even blink, and if Nishiki were to be honest, it was probably one of the most impressive things he'd ever seen.

And if after the fight was over and he'd dragged Chuuya out to a restaurant to celebrate, he'd taken a moment to picture what it'd be like to see Chuuya kick Dazai through a wall, well that was his little secret.

* * *

By the time Nishiki had known Chuuya for four months, he had pretty much completely figure out what topics were better to never bring up around Chuuya. Some like bringing up Dazai or wine (and really he'd like to know whose idea it was to introduce a fifteen year to alcohol) were better to avoid if you just didn't want to get your ear talked off; but there were other topics, like The Sheep or family, that would cause Chuuya to freeze up for a moment before forcing himself to relax.

He remembered one time that a new recruit who'd followed his brother into the Mafia had foolishly questioned Chuuya about his family and whether he had any siblings. Nishiki had watched Chuuya's shoulders tense up and had quickly diffused the situation by gracefully draping himself over Chuuya's shoulders and declaring that 'he was Chuuya's older brother, didn't they look alike?'

He'd gotten an elbow in the gut for his trouble and the recruit had stared back and forth between Chuuya, with his red hair and blue eyes, and Nishiki with his blond hair and green eyes, for a moment as he tried to figure out if they really were related. After a moment he apparently decided to give up on figuring it out and had excused himself with a confused expression on his face.

The quiet thank you Chuuya had offered him afterward made it all worth the pain.

There were also a few topics that Nishiki had thought wise to never try to bring up, no matter how curious he might be. Like the string of numbers he noticed tattooed on the back of Chuuya's neck when his choker was off one time, or the muttering he'd done about 'being human' on the occasion that some idiot had seen fit to sneak some alcohol into the boys drink. It was obvious that there were secrets Chuuya was hiding, and Nishiki would have been lying if he said he didn't want to know what they were, but he wouldn't push for it. He'd wait, someday hopefully Chuuya would reach the point where he'd choose to tell him of his own accord and if he didn't? Well, Chuuya would still always be his brother.

* * *

The last time Nishiki sees Chuuya, he's getting flung into a crate by an electricity using ability user. It's been five months and twenty-one days since they first met and the job was supposed to be an easy one, just wiping out a small organization that was said to have no ability users. Their information had been wrong though and the operation was falling apart, most of the men that had come were already dead, leaving only Dazai, Chuuya and a handful of Nishiki's squad were left.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nishiki could see Chuuya twitch, and a wave of relief swept through him. The ability user wasn't advancing towards him though and he had no way of knowing if the boy would survive another hit. All it took was a split second to make his decision before Nishiki lifted his gun, absentmindedly noting his surviving comrades doing the same, and then he fired.

The bullets never hit their target, a bolt of lightning shattering them in midair, but Nishiki had expected that. All it had been was a distraction, a ploy to give Chuuya just a few more seconds to get up, just like he could see him doing out of the corner of his eye.

Nishiki had expected the lightning that came shooting towards him too, had known what would happen, and as the darkness took him all he could think was that he hoped Chuuya would be alright without him.


End file.
